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Introduction

“Surely, the killing of Al-Husayn left a burning heat in the hearts of the true believers that will NEVER EVER cool down!”

Imam Ja’far ibn Muhammad As-Sadiq

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In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Praise be to Allah (SWT)1 whom none is praised but Him, and no one asks reward on a calamity except from Him. May Allah (SWT) reward us for our calamity regarding the grandson of the Holy Prophet, Al-Husayn bin ‘Ali! May peace and blessings be upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S)2 and on his purified progeny and those who take him as guardian!

I have been thinking for a long time about the idea of establishing an international tribunal to try the killers of Imam Husayn (as)3 and the perpetrators of the massacre of Karbala.

The idea is to place them under trial with the charge of committing war crimes, mass murder, and crimes against humanity, based on the modern-day laws and understanding, and away from any religious accusation or anything related to religion.

A real and practical trial which the whole world participates in… one that is represented by a group of chosen judges who come from all parts of the world, and a jury who represents all the different nationalities and religions of the globe.

A trial that gives the defendants the right to defend themselves through lawyers and a defense team; it would have a prosecution team as well. The defendants would be called by their names only (since they died long time ago) to face the world and all of humanity. They will be tried for their crimes and massacres which they have committed in Karbala. The witnesses will be called from the historical texts, and the well-known Islamic books written by famous Muslim historians.

Let this be a just and fair trial by international modern standards under the supervision of the international community. Let the court trial take its time and follow all the legal procedures which are typically followed in most of the democratic countries that respect human rights.

Thereafter, a fair verdict will be issued regarding the criminals and let all of humanity make its judgment against them and then sentence them! Let the horrendousness and insanity that happened in Karbala be exposed to the whole world as it does not only belong to the supporters of Al-Husayn (as) alone, but to ALL of humanity! What happened in Karbala greatly exceeds crimes committed against humanity and the war crimes. It will shock the whole world and I am very confident of that!

Accomplishing this is not impossible and praise is to God, the supporters of Al-Husayn have sufficient monetary and social ability to sponsor such a trial, especially in the western countries. We could accomplish this mission with determination and this will surely be a great achievement in front of the whole world. Let the truth be revealed and let all of humanity sympathize with the tragedy of Imam Al-Husayn (as)!

We hope and pray to Allah (SWT) that this dream becomes true one day, and our Muslim nation and the world wakes up after following this trial which should be broadcasted live in all parts of the world, especially our Islamic nation which has been affected by ignorance and blindness. As a result, it lost the ability to recognize truth from falsehood, and friend from foe.

Till this dream is accomplished and Allah (SWT) sends he who is capable of turning this dream into reality…one who is chosen from the lovers and devotees of Imam Husayn (as), and they are many thanks to Allah (SWT)…till that happens, I will attempt in the following pages to present my conception of how that could be accomplished. How do I visualize it to take place and in what way?

I will try to imagine every detail of the court trial from the judges, the defendants, the indictment, the witnesses, prosecution and defense teams, the court sessions, the jurors, and the announcement of the final verdict as well as its consequences.

Perhaps these details would serve as a model and a useful tool for the actual trial if it hopefully becomes a reality one day by the hands of a person(s) who would adopt this idea, execute it, and win the great reward from Allah (SWT) as well as the blessed intercession of Imam Husayn, his holy grandfather, father, mother, and brother (peace be upon them all).

Without further ado, let us depart together to the world of imagination and let us ride the train of time to the future so that we live this beautiful dream in the following pages. The dream of achieving at least a small portion of justice for Imam Husayn (as) and his family and companions, until Allah (SWT) wills the reappearance of Imam Al Mahdi (AFS)4 from the progeny of Prophet Muhammad (S) who will fill the earth with justice and equity after it was filled with oppression and transgression.

The first justice he will seek will surely be to attain vengeance for Imam Husayn (as). Let us start together in this journey…the journey of seeking human justice. I hope it will be exciting, beneficial, sad, and filled with information and facts about the events which took place in Karbala.

Hopefully, everyone can benefit from this, and then knowledge can be propagated in a novel way of presentation that suits the modern life and time change. From Allah (SWT) we seek help and on Allah (SWT) we depend!

We seek His reward and we desire the intercession of His Holy Prophet (S), ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, Lady Fatima, and her sons Hasan and Husayn, may peace and blessings be upon them all!